Readers' Choice

The same folks who decided that people should be able to ride a Ferris wheel where they fish have come up with, arguably, an even better combination. The Santa Monica Pier offers ROGA — running plus yoga — workouts on Saturday mornings for free at various times throughout the spring, summer and fall. Come at 8 a.m. to warm up with a two- or five-mile run and stay for yoga at 9 a.m. Yoga is led by a rotating list of Santa Monica's best yoga instructors. Friendly volunteers will hold onto your yoga mat and cheer you on while you run, then offer you refreshments from sponsors such as Clif Bar or Honest Tea when you need a boost of energy. Check the Santa Monica Pier website, sign up for the email list or "like" the Facebook page to make sure you're in the know. It's always nice to wake up to the waves, but having your workout done before brunch is another kind of heaven. —Eve Weston

A yoga studio for the real Eastside was embraced almost as the second coming. Finally, yoga for the people. And that's almost what Leah Gallegos and Lauren Quan-Madrid call their new space: People's Yoga. Bringing the chi to Chicanos means "Yoga y Luz" classes in Spanish, prenatal yoga, yoga for "baby 'n' me" and family yoga sessions, Gallegos says. For two years the pair traveled around the Eastside and other underserved neighborhoods to bring the practice to the working-class masses. Then, in June, $10,000 — raised in just 60 days with a crowd-funding campaign — allowed them to open the doors of a dedicated studio. So, uh, do Mexican-Americans do the downward dog? "We're seeing new people every day," Gallegos says. "It's going really good." —Dennis Romero

An entertainment producer and mother of three, Antonia King was startled to realize that L.A. had no yoga studios for children. So in 2012, she launched Zooga Yoga, a studio offering yoga classes to kids of all ages, from babies to teenagers. Naturally, the younger ones are not adept at concentration or mindfulness, so the instructors offer something they call "playful yoga," which involves a lot of motion and activity. Before you know it, your toddler will be showing you how to do tree pose and downward dog. Zooga has been so successful that King plans to expand, with two new storefronts opening soon. —Gene Maddaus

Joe Wolf, a massage therapist and nursing student by day, fills the Hollywood Wilshire YMCA's spin studio Tuesday through Thursday evenings with a crowd ready for a fast, fun and absolutely grueling workout. When he's not making the rounds to personally pump up participants, he seems to channel Andre the Giant's Dread Pirate Roberts from his bike, tracing his finger around the room and challenging the class to "Add more!" in a deep bellow (more resistance, that is). The workout is simple, no gimmicks and little chatter, just steady climbing or quick pedaling to an eclectic playlist — epic heartland rock, swampy industrial trip-hop, classic soul and funk, Top 40 R&B and electro-pop. Even gritty grunge ballads. Whether it's Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" or Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," the right song always hits the speakers just as the crowd is wilting, and the hour simply speeds by. —Jessica Langlois

Located in downtown's Arts District, just off the Sixth Street Bridge, L.A. Boulders has become a top destination for bouldering — otherwise known as rock-climbing without ropes. The gym opened in January in a vast warehouse next door to a shooting range in the up-and-coming neighborhood. Inside are three massive walls — "the Barrel," "the Alcove" and "the Wave Wall" — which together offer more "problems" to solve than any other gym in the city. L.A. Boulders also has weights and exercise machines, a good enough assortment that some customers use it as their primary gym. Business is so brisk that the owners expect to open locations in Culver City, Pasadena and Hollywood next year. —Gene Maddaus

Yes, you are permitted to run on Ballona Creek Bike Path, which stretches from Syd Kronenthal Park in Culver City all the way to Playa del Rey Beach. There will be cyclists whizzing past you, homeless dudes slouched over on the shoulder, and occasional taggers beautifying bridge underpasses. But this path is a Los Angeles urban wonder, an opportunity to escape the traffic, smog and crowded sidewalks and run your heart out alongside a pretty creek. You'll see egrets, herons and, um, a lot of other birds we can't identify, while jogging on asphalt. (Though not as good as dirt, it's easier on your knees than concrete.) The best part is that at the trail's end awaits the ocean. We're not saying you'd be wise to strip off your sweaty clothes and dive in — it's not a nude beach, after all. But we won't call the cops. —Ben Westhoff